VZCZCXRO6731
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV
RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDA #0093 1171424
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271424Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4116
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0665
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0579
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0713
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 0169
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0101
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ADANA 000093 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CASC TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY:  MINORS INDICTED, KURDISH LANGUAGE UNDER 
FIRE 
 
REF: A. ADANA 82 
     ¶B. 05 ANKARA 3112 
 
¶1. (SBU) Our contact at the Diyarbakir Bar Association told us 
that 5 of the 57 minors  remaining in custody after the recent 
civil unrest in Diyarbakir (reftel) were released on April 25, 
leaving 52 minors in prison.  According to the press, the 
Children's Branch of the Prosecutor's office has prepared an 
indictment demanding action against 36 children on grounds that 
they are members of a terrorist organization.  Our contact said 
that neither the childrens' lawyers nor the court had yet 
examined the indictment; and that the judges were required to 
approve or reject the indictment.  He said that a court ruling 
must take place within 20 or 30 days after judges examine the 
indictment.  He added that the situation would become clearer in 
a week. 
 
Kurdish language expression being curbed 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Diyarbakir attorney Sedat Cinar told us that on April 
20, the Second Civil Court of First Instance in Diyarbakir 
closed down Kurd-Der (the name means "Kurdish Association" in 
English), a Diyarbakir-based association devoted to promoting 
Kurdish as a language of education in Turkey.  (Note: Cinar, a 
former International Visitor Program participant, is handling 
Kurd-Der's defense.  End note.)  The association's activities 
were suspended in July 2005, pending an indictment issued in May 
2005, under Turkey's Civil Code and Anti-Terror law. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Cinar outlined the prosecutor's four charges against 
Kurd-Der:  1) Use of the letter "d" in the compound noun 
"Kurd-Der" does not follow proper Turkish linguistic rules; the 
"d" in Kurd-Der should be replaced by "t," and thus Kurd-Der 
should be changed to Kurt-Der;  2) The association has defended 
in its charter the use of Kurdish as a language of education in 
primary and secondary schools.; 3) The association has written 
in its charter that it will use both the Turkish and Kurdish 
languages in its activities, while the law requires that only 
Turkish be used; and  4) Association members have included in 
their charter their intent to form a Kurdish language archive, 
museum and library.   Cinar told us that he expects the court to 
issue a written rationale for its actions next week.  A 
representative of Kurd-Der told us that the Diyarbakir-based 
association was formed in 2005 when Turkey was harmonizing its 
laws with EU requirements for supporting mother tongue 
languages, and other minority rights.  In November 2005, 
attorney Cinar took the Kurd-Der case to the European Court of 
Human Rights (ECHR), where it is still pending. 
 
¶4. (U) It is worth noting that the High Court of Appeals in 2005 
ordered the closure of Egitim-Sen, Turkey's largest teachers' 
union, on the grounds that its bylaw advocated education in 
mother tongues.  Egitim-Sen avoided closure by removing the 
mother tongue article from its bylaw, while filing a case with 
the ECHR, which remains pending. 
 
REID